The SAIMC Secunda branch held its monthly technology evening on 12 July 2023 at the Proconics Secunda office. Jurie Weidemann from Pepperl+Fuchs gave an enlightening presentation on Functional Safety: Manufacturing vs Process. The presentation highlighted functional safety and how it relates to both manufacturing of SIL-rated equipment and implementing this in process safety systems.
Jurie covered common misconceptions about SIL. He explained how a single SIL-rated device does not make a loop a SIL certifiable loop, how SIL 3 is not necessarily better than SIL 2 because of complexities around maintenance and associated costs, and how the credibility of a SIL-rated device also depends on how you install and maintain it.
He touched on the topic of residual risks and tolerable risks, and their matrices in functional safety. The topic of tolerable risks sparked a healthy engagement among the attendees. The general conversation was about the controversy around tolerable risks and how it does not sit well with society. Tolerable risks can be misconstrued as reducing human life to monetary value. However, the point of functional safety is to reduce the risks as much as possible.
Jurie Weidemann is an external sales engineer at Pepperl+Fuchs. He started his technical career in the SA Navy in 2005. He has since held a number of technical positions in various organisations. The Secunda SAIMC committee would like to thank him for his time and presentation, and Proconics for hosting the monthly Technology Evening.
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